Grazing Reserve Bills Suffer Set Back in Senate

The Senate on Wednesday suspend second reading of a Bill for an Act to provide for the Establishment of Grazing Management Agency and for other related matters (SB 292) sponsored by Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, A bill for an Act to provide the Establishment of National Ranches Commission for the Regulation, Management, Preservation and Control of Ranches and for connected purpose (SB 293) sponsored by Senator Barnabas Gemade and a bill for an Act to Control the Keeping and Movement of Cattle in Nigeria and for related matters (SB 311) sponsored by Senator Chukwuka Utazi.

The development follow a suggestion by the Senate Leader Ali Ndume that the three bills should be consolidated into one why introducing the bills but the Senate Leader suggestion was challenged by Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe that the three bills are not the same and they cannot be combines. “The three bills are not the same and if we combine them, there would be misinformation of our view by the public. So the three bills should be considered separately” Abaribe said.

At this point the Senate President Bukola Saraki called on the sponsors of the bills to clarify if the bills are the same.

In his clarification, Senator Kwankwaso said the three bills are similar but Senator Gemade disagree with him saying that the bills are similar but the fundamentals are different and that it would be difficult to consolidate them on the floor of the Senate.

It was at this point that Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu informed the Senate that they don’t have to make law on issue domesticated in the residual list.
Ekweremadu refer the lawmakers to section 4 (2), 44 (2b) and 47 of the 1999 constitution to back his argument. He the Senate only has power to legislate on issues in the exclusive and concurrent list why the States Houses of Assembly is responsible for making laws on issues in residual list.

Inline with this, the Senate President Bukola Saraki called on the Senate Leader to move a motion dropping the consideration of the three bills in the order paper to another legislative day.